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For the longest time I was resisting giving up my plastic water bottles in lieu of a stainless steel or glass bottle for fear that I would break one or add weight to my daily load of stuff I carry. Knowing full well that leaving my plastic water bottle exposed to the heat was turning my life saving water into a toxic chemical mess, I still chose the BPA producing plastic.

Basically these chemicals are possible endocrine disruptors and could mimic estrogen and effect the hormonal system through the thyroid gland. On the short list, BPA has been linked to reproductive problems, ADHD, diabetes and obesity, metabolic disease, miscarriages and poor brain development.

Really, this thought process of mine made no sense with my philosophy for conscious living on the fitness, health and wellness path. After all, it seems ridiculous economically and environmentally to constantly buy bottled water only to throw away the bottle each time and expose myself to harmful chemicals.

About the bottle, it keeps cold, cold for 24 hours and hot, hot for 12hoursl.

So grateful to my friends Jonie Misleman & Chauncey Williams for the amazing gift of aligning me with this #S’well Water Bottle

The “power position” creates the neutral basis for your body. Training in this position results in a stronger and more balanced relationship between center of gravity and base of support ..center base and base to ground leads to better gait mechanics.

Training on the BOSU Elite provides mechanical advantages for enhancing gait mechanics both neurologically and structurally which means you can get into positions and reach a range of motion that you were unable to achieve without it.

Establishing the Power Position:

• Stand with your feet hips-distance apart and toes straight ahead
•Squeeze the glutes, a.k.a. your butt (pelvis tilts and shifts forward, hips externally rotate
•Engage the abdominals to lock that position in
•Tuck chin slightly, head as if “suspended from above”
•Think wide and low through the shoulders
• Flatten the curve in your lower back-think longhand wide through the lower back

Training stimulus results in…

*Dorsiflexion with inversion that creates a springloading effect through the body.
*Efficient Natural positioning at ground contact during walking and
*Creates an optimal mechanical leverage for efficient force transfer

Basically the BOSU Elite surface and the exercises in the power position help to cerate a tighter suspension within the system creating a coil like effect in the body that will transfer to a more enhanced efficient, stronger maximum engagement and force transfer through the spine. The spine then becomes a better transmitter of force and the hips become the fundamental driver and the hinge for force. Through this we are able to maximize core stability and hip mobility throughout the greatest range of motion and improve force transmission to/from the ground.

I can’t believe it! I’m one year post op from the 2nd surgery, and I feel great ! So what’s left to restore me back to 110%.

Putting the bounce back in my step and here’s how …

With the BOSU Elite and the Weck Method

Remember when you were younger and what seemed like an effortless childlike bounce in everything you did?

As a certified personal trainer I am required to take continuing education courses. I came upon the BOSU ELITE instructor training course. Why this is different from the original BOSU is that the BOSU Elite has a firmer dome with a smaller surface. This enables you to achieve “ Pelvic Perfection,” and helps to create a spring loading effect through the spine to maximize core stability and hip mobility throughout the greatest range of motion and improve force transmission to and from the ground.

By aligning the body and maintaining it in that neutral position and moving through it the better you will move through your body.

And that is how I am putting the bounce back into my step: )

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, achieving and maintaining balance is EVERYTHING !

“Balance” is more than “not falling down.” It’s about balancing both sides of your body, balancing strength and coordination, balancing power and efficiency, and balancing athletic movement with proper body alignment,” The WeckMethod.

If you remove the fat you have to replace it with something else to give it flavor … how bout SUGAR … this would then drive “America’s per capita sugar consumption up by a third. “ if not more and support the sugar industry.

Just after I posted last week’s blog my friend and colleague Lewis sent me this. I’m posting it for you in its entirety because I feel it’s worth the read and think you should know.50 Years Ago, Sugar Industry Quietly Paid Scientists To Point Blame At Fat: NPR

In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded research that downplayed the risks of sugar and highlighted the hazards of fat, according to a newly published article in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The article draws on internal documents to show that an industry group called the Sugar Research Foundation wanted to “refute” concerns about sugar’s role in heart disease. The SRF then sponsored research by Harvard scientists that did just that. The result was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1967,with no disclosure of the sugar industry funding.

The sugar-funded research was a literature review, examining a variety of studies and experiments. It was delayed, according to the newly uncovered documents, because more and more studies raising concerns about sugar were being published even as the scientists were working on their rebuttals.

The authors of the new study say that for the past five decades, the sugar industry has been attempting to influence the scientific debate over the relative risks of sugar and fat.

“It was a very smart thing the sugar industry did, because review papers, especially if you get them published in a very prominent journal, tend to shape the overall scientific discussion,” article co-author Stanton Glantz told the New York Times.

The SRF was clear that its “particular interest” was in evaluating studies of sugar. And it was certainly happy with the result: “Let me assure you this is quite what we had in mind and we look forward to its appearance in print,” John Hickson, SRF vice president and director of research, told one of the scientists.

The scientists had raised concerns about the validity of research that suggested sugar could play a role in coronary heart disease, concluded that reducing fat consumption was undoubtedly the best way to reduce coronary heart disease.

“It is always appropriate to question the validity of individual studies,” lead author Cristin Kearns told Bloomberg via email. But, she says, “the authors applied a different standard” to different studies — looking very critically at research that implicated sugar, and ignoring problems with studies that found dangers in fat.

The documents in question are five decades old, but the larger issue is of the moment, as Marion Nestle notes in a commentary in the same issue of JAMA Internal Medicine:

“This 50-year-old incident may seem like ancient history, but it is quite relevant, not least because it answers some questions germane to our current era. Is it really true that food companies deliberately set out to manipulate research in their favor? Yes, it is, and the practice continues. In 2015, the New York Times obtained emails revealing Coca-Cola’s cozy relationships with sponsored researchers who were conducting studies aimed at minimizing the effects of sugary drinks on obesity. Even more recently, the Associated Press obtained emails showing how a candy trade association funded and influenced studies to show that children who eat sweets have healthier body weights than those who do not.”

The American Heart Association’s recommended daily allowance of sugar:

spoonful of sugar

•3 teaspoons of added sugar for children

•6 teaspoons of added sugar for women

•9 teaspoons of added sugar for men

If you consider a can of coke or glass of orange juice can contain around nine teaspoons, then take into account all the hidden sugars in our food… That’s above and beyond : O

JUST SO YOU KNOW
The average American consumes about 152 pounds of sugar a year. That’s roughly 22 teaspoons every day for every person in America. To make matters worse, kids consume about 34 teaspoons every day — that’s more than two 20-ounce sodas — making nearly one in four teenagers pre-diabetic or diabetic.

THE REAL SKINNY
Even though the American Heart Association has a recommended daily allowance, ” the REAL SKINNY is that just a spoonful of sugar will set you in a tailwind spiral downward into the abyss of addiction of the worst kind and beyond.”jb

It’s no wonder America’s health is doomed and health care makes a fortune.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on the subject of nutrition, almost as long as my recovery. Don’t think that hasn’t been in the forefront while I’ve been recovering. In fact, what has enabled me to continue to recover as quickly is being mindful of my nutrition. I will admit though I’ve not been perfect and probably caved in to more cheat days then I normally would give in to.. But hey, sometimes I am human. So now that I am getting stronger on my track it’s time to reckon with those demons and banish them off the track.

Sugar does to your brain — the exact same thing smoking, alcohol and cocaine do.

Studies show that Lab rats prefer sugar to cocaine. When given the choice between sugar, cocaine and alcohol those cross-addicted rats always choose sugar.

Eating high-sugar foods lights up your brain on an MRI like a Christmas tree. The very same part of the brain that’s triggered by cocaine or heroine according to research by Dr. David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D.

The dopamine receptors are activated in the brain when sugar is consumed, and the more sugar that is ingested the more desensitized the brain becomes to the dopamine response and the more sugar is needed to maintain that high.

When the brain starts reducing its number of dopamine receptors in order to keep things balanced “downregulation” is the reason we develop a tolerance.

From there it’s a downward spiral…

Eating wheat, flour and sugar in processed foods spikes our sugar, then insulin. These are the hormonal disturbances that make you store belly fat, and then you are hungry for more sweets and starchy junk food and the cycle continues from there.

Sugar increases your insulin levels, which can lead to:

•OBESITY

•DIABETES

•HEART DISEASE

•IMPAIR BRAIN FUNCTION

•HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL

•PREMATURE AGING

Controlling your insulin levels is one of the most important things you can do to optimize your overall health, and avoiding sugar is the key.

Bottom line, there is no fundamental difference between junk food addiction and drug addiction and basically, Oreos are legal crack. : /

Just like changing your perspective can change your life so too can changing the angle you lift can change your physique. Sometimes just changing the way you look at something makes all the difference in the world.

While in recovery the body has one thing to do HEAL. The body is designed to heal itself, if you let it .

And yes sometimes surgical intervention is required but then there is healing time involved in that too.

The most obvious way to progress is to increase your weight load. SO how to progress and keep things interesting when you have restrictions placed upon you and lifting heavy is not on option… Change the angle.

By simply changing the way you stand or angle the of the weight bench you can target your muscles from a different angle, recruit adjacent muscle fibers and stabilizer muscles and promote a more balanced, symmetrical physique.

If you continue to lift weights in the same angle every time you will only get stronger at that angle and eventually you will either plateau or create imbalances.

If your scared of lifting heavy weights because you think you’re going to get big and bulky, which by the way is a BIG MYTH, (you get big and bulky from the eating the wrong foods) this a perfect technique for you to incorporate into your training regimen.

Not only did I use this technique while in recovery but I use it with my clients because it integrates movement in daily functional living. From day to day we lift, we push and we move our bodies in different ways and different angles your body needs to be strong and ready for anything that comes your way.

Other options are varying your speed, changing grips, and recovery time between sets.

Doing angles you’ve never tried—even when completed on a common exercise—are almost like brand-new movements altogether. Your perspective of the same 10-pound weight will be completely different .

Simply adjusting your angle keeps it FRESH and offers up a whole new perspective!

Like the name implies, unstable surface training is when you perform resistance or bodyweight training with all or part of you acting against a surface that it self is unstable. Stable surface training, is when you are simply standing on the ground or sitting on a regular bench or any surface that is stable.

Your core in general serves to protect your spine and prevent major injury and paralysis. When working on an unstable surface you’re always working on your core.

Simulating an unstable surface environment in a controlled setting creates a shaking reaction. That shaking or balance reaction stimulates proprioceptors. Proprioceptors are position sensors in your joints. This can improve sensory function, meaning that the central nervous system receives better feedback to improve the motor signals it sends out, Thus strengthening your joints and improving joint health.

From a neurological standpoint your body understands that if you improve joint health your ready for more tensile strength or more force to go through each and every joint in your body which means you can utilize more muscles on all sides of your joints to be able to recruit and co-contract to create a better more stable joint.

Joints connect bones and its primary function is to provide motion and flexibility to the frame of the body. A strong joint provides stability for the overall framework of your body in motion.

By strengthening that signal, this allows for better coordination to send a more direct signal to get a stronger contraction and tell your body that it has the stability to protect you.

Some great tools to incorporate into your rehab or workout are: Bosu balls (my favorite), stability balls, dyna discs and medicine balls. Really you can create your own unstable surfaces to challenge yourself.

Also, the faster you go the harder the unstable surface gets, the more challenging it becomes to your joints and stabilizers.